Patience

I realized as I sat to write this, that I actually experienced two ends of the spectrum of Patience today. Both annoyed me, but let me explain.

I live in a development. We pay HOA fees. So, basically, even though I hardly know any of the people that live on my actual street, I do consider anyone that lives in the development to be neighbors. There is a long (about a mile+) drive into the development. We are off a very main road, then our development's main road meanders along a hillside for that mile+ before there are any homes. I was leaving today to meet my husband for lunch. I stopped at the last stop sign before this stretch of road. As I was approaching the stop sign another car was approaching the stop sign to my right. A few feet later, this same car was on my ass. Tailgating. Really? This particular area, in this direction, is all down hill. And, the speed limit is posted in a couple of spots and is 35mph. Well, going down hill, you do naturally pick up speed. But, since there have often been police hiding at the bottom of the hill, I tend to hit the brakes when I start to go over 40mph. Like I did today. I guess that pissed off the person behind me because not only did she tailgate me, as we got further down the hill, with about a quarter of a mile left, she gunned her engine and passed me going about 60mph. Um, we're neighbors. Is that really necessary? Sorry if you're late, but that is not MY fault. Oh, and my guess is that she was trying to make the light at the bottom of the hill. She didn't. Haaa Haaa! She then proceeded to speed thru the green light when it turned, only to get stuck at the next red light. Since I was in another lane, she was actually about 5 cars behind me! Again, Haaa Haaa! Loser. But like I said, we live in the same development, not only should you abide by the posted speed limit (don't get me wrong, I often hate driving behind slow people, and am not always so mindful of the speed limit), but don't be jerky to your neighbors.

So that was patience experience number one: She clearly had none. And it annoyed me.

On to patience experience number two: I didn't have it this time! And I was annoyed.

I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond after lunch. I bought one thing. Of course I picked the wrong check out line. The woman in front of me wrote a check. A check. In 2013. WTF? First of all, I don't think stores should even accept them anymore -- the whole process is so time-consuming. First, the person has to take the time to write out the check (swipe, debit/credit card has been accepted already), then they always have to ask for the total AGAIN, then the store has to check ID and run the check through some screening process. Swipe and swipe -- two people could have been out of the store in the time it takes to get all this done. Sigh. I have no patience for shoppers who write checks. I mean, really, my father is 84 and he uses a debit card. It's the same thing people -- the money comes out of the same account as your check! Then the woman made some lame joke to the cashier and looked to me for approval. Yeah, right, you are so barking up the wrong tree right now. My hope is that my FAKE half-smirk conveyed my I'm-so-annoyed-that-you-wasted-so-much-time-writing-a-check-while-I-was-behind-you-waiting-to-buy-one-item feelings! Shut it and move along, lady.

On the plus side, the sun is shining, the hillsides are already a gorgeous green and I got to open my sunroof on my ride home. While much of the country is buried in snow right now, I'm happy to be driving the speed limit around here today, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the colors of Spring.